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June 15
1800s 1900s *1902 - Corsicana defeated Texarkana 51–3 in a Texas League game. Nig Clark of Corsicana took advantage of the small park and hit eight home runs. Some telegraph operators, thinking there was a mistake, reported the score as 5–3. 1910s 1920s *1925 - The Philadelphia Athletics went into the bottom of the eighth inning trailing 15–4 and scored 13 runs to defeat the Cleveland Indians 17–15. *1928 - Ty Cobb of the Philadelphia Athletics stole home plate for the 54th and final time in his 24-year career to extend his major league record. It came in the eighth inning against the Cleveland Indians. The Athletics beat Cleveland, 12–5, as Lefty Grove was the winning pitcher. 1930s *1931 - Cut-down day for major league rosters included the retirement of Eddie Collins and Harry Heilmann. Collins became a coach for the Philadelphia Athletics and Heilmann will return briefly to the Cincinnati Reds in 1932. *1938 - Johnny Vander Meer of the Cincinnati Reds stunned the baseball world by pitching his second successive no-hitter in five days, defeating the Brooklyn Dodgers, 6–0, as Brooklyn played the first night game ever at Ebbets Field. In front of 38,748 fans, including spectator Babe Ruth, Vander Meer stroke out seven and walked eight, including three one-out walks in the ninth inning. A force at home and a fly ball ended the game. Vander Meer no-hit the Boston Braves, 3–0, on June 11. 1940s *1948 - The Detroit Tigers beat the Philadelphia Athletics, 4–1, before a crowd of 54,480 in the first night game at Briggs Stadium. The Tigers were the last American League team to install lights. *1949 - Eddie Waitkus of the Philadelphia Phillies was shot by 19-year-old Ruth Steinhagen at Chicago's Edgewater Beach Hotel. She will later be placed in a mental hospital. Waitkus battled for his life and came back to play the following season. 1950s *1952 - The St. Louis Cardinals set a National League comeback record by rallying from an 11–0 deficit to post a 14–12 victory over the New York Giants. St. Louis scored seven runs in the fifth inning, three in the seventh, two in the eighth and two in the ninth to cap off the incredible comeback. 1960s *1961 - The expansion Washington Senators were 30-30 after winning today. It was the latest date an expansion team will be at .500. Washington will lose it next 10 games. *1963 - Juan Marichal of the San Francisco Giants pitched a 1–0 no-hitter against the Houston Colts .45's. It was the first Giants franchise no-hitter since Carl Hubbell did it in 1929. *1964 - The St. Louis Cardinals made one of their best trades ever, acquiring outfielder Lou Brock from the Chicago Cubs for pitchers Ernie Broglio and Bobby Shantz and outfielder Doug Clemens. As a member of the Cardinals, Brock will set the all-time stolen base record and reach the 3,000-hit mark. *1965 - Detroit Tigers pitcher Denny McLain made a first-inning relief appearance and stroke out the first seven batters he faced, setting a major league record. He recorded 14 strikeouts in 6 2/3 innings as Detroit rallied to beat the Boston Red Sox 6–5. Bill Freehan had a record-tying 19 putouts at catcher. *1969 - The New York Mets helped their power needs by adding first baseman Donn Clendenon. Clendenon had refused a January trade that would send him from Montreal to Houston, but he agreed to go to New York. In exchange, Montreal received Steve Renko, Kevin Collins, and two minor leaguers, and also acquired pitcher Dick Radatz from Detroit. 1970s *1973 - Former Atlanta Braves outfielder Tommie Aaron became the first black manager of a team located in the deep South. Aaron will manage Savannah which becomes the first Double-A team to employ an African-American manager. *1976: **A game between the Pittsburgh Pirates and Houston Astros between was rained out at the Houston Astrodome. Only members of both teams were able to make it to the stadium. The game was postponed when heavy rains and flooding prevented umpires, fans and stadium personnel from arriving at the dome. It was the first rainout in Astrodome history. **Oakland Athletics owner Charlie Finley sold three of his star players. Joe Rudi and Rollie Fingers were sent to the Boston Red Sox for $1 million apiece and Vida Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Three days later, Commissioner Bowie Kuhn will void the moves, saying they are “not in the best interests of baseball." *1977 - In an unpopular move, the New York Mets traded franchise pitcher Tom Seaver just moments before the trading line. The Mets sent Seaver to the Cincinnati Reds for fiur lesser players: infielder Doug Flynn, outfielders Steve Henderson and Dan Norman, and pitcher Pat Zachry. Seaver will go on to win 75 games for the Reds in five and a half seasons. The same day, New York traded slugger Dave Kingman to the San Diego Padres for utility player Bobby Valentine and a minor league pitcher. 1980s *1980 - Jorge Orta of the Cleveland Indians hit a double and five singles and scored four runs in a 14–5 triumph over the Minnesota Twins. Toby Harrah recorded seven RBI for Cleveland. *1983 - In one of the worst trades in franchise history, the St. Louis Cardinals sent first baseman Keith Hernández to the New York Mets in exchange for pitchers Neil Allen and Rick Ownbey. 1990s *1992 - Jeff Reardon broke Rollie Fingers' career save mark of 341 when he preserved a 1–0 victory for the Boston Red Sox with one scoreless inning against the New York Yankees. *1997 - In one of the more surprising developments of the first weekend of interleague play, the Baltimore Orioles completed a sweep of the Atlanta Braves at Turner Field, on Lenny Webster's tenth inning home run off Mark Wohlers. One byproduct of interleague play that wasn't a surprise was the increase at the turnstiles. Attendance was up nearly 10,000 per game for the weekend, and the Seattle Mariners averaged 52,074 for their four interleague games in the Kingdome. 2000s *2002 - Rafael Palmeiro of the Texas Rangers reached his 1,000 career extra base hit by hitting a double in the fifth inning in the 4–0 loss to the Houston Astros. Palmeiro became the 25th major leaguer to reach that mark. Births *1912 - Babe Dahlgren, All-Star infielder (d. 1996) *1925 - Gene Baker, All-Star infielder (d. 1999) *1938 - Billy Williams, Hall of Fame outfielder *1946 - Ken Henderson, outfielder *1949 - Dusty Baker, All-Star outfielder and manager *1956 - Lance Parrish, All-Star catcher *1957 - Brett Butler, All-Star outfielder *1958 - Wade Boggs, Hall of Fame infielder *1972 - Tony Clark, All-Star infielder *1972 - Andy Pettitte, All-Star pitcher *1972 - Ramiro Mendoza, pitcher *1977 - Bret Prinz, pitcher *1978 - Zach Day, pitcher *1981 - Jeremy Reed, outfielder Deaths *1968 - Sam Crawford, Hall of Fame outfielder (b. 1880) *1976 - Jimmie Dykes, All-Star infielder and manager (b. 1896) *1977 - Bill Lee, All-Star pitcher (b. 1909) *1989 - Judy Johnson, Hall of Fame Negro League player (b. 1900) *1991 - Happy Chandler, Hall of Fame executive (b. 1898) *1992 - Ed Lopat, All-Star pitcher (b. 1918) *2005 - Carroll Sembera, pitcher (b. 1941)